Landsat 8, Landsat 7, and Landsat 4-5 TM Pre-Collection inventory will no longer be available after October 1, 2017. Users are encouraged to transition to Landsat Collection 1 data for use in their applications.

Landsat Headlines

On July, 23 2017, the Landsat Program will celebrate forty-five years of continuous Earth observation. NASA — working in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and its science agency, the USGS — launched the first Landsat satellite (originally named Earth Resources Technology Satellite 1) on July 23, 1972. (Read More)

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is requesting information from the land imaging community for user requirements for future Landsat systems and are accepting submissions until August 4, 2017. (Read More)

The Landsat archive, the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based, moderate-resolution land remote sensing data, has now surpassed 7 million scenes since Landsat 1 first began collecting data in July 1972. (Read More)

On July, 23 2017, the Landsat Program will celebrate forty-five years of continuous Earth observation. During the month of July, we will be highlighting Landsat related facts, trivia and images using #Landsat45 on social media outlets. Follow us to join in the celebration. (Read More)

Land Remote Sensing Image Collections

Fire in GreenlandIt may seem surprising that wildfires burn in Greenland, a huge island of ice and glaciers.

Batagaika Crater and the MegaslumpAn increasingly large gash has opened up in northern Russia's Siberian tundra. During the past few decades, warmer summers and shorter winters have caused permafrost in this region to thaw, which then allows the warmed soils on slopes to slump and erode.

Iceberg Separates from Larsen C Ice ShelfAround July 10–12, 2017, in the middle of the long, dark Antarctic winter, a rift in the Larsen C Ice Shelf broke through the last few miles of ice to the Weddell Sea and formed a new iceberg.

Fires in the Western United StatesOn an average day during the fire season, multiple wildfires burn in the western United States. For example, 216 fires were active on July 7, 2017.

7 Million Landsat Scenes and Counting!The Landsat archive, the world’s longest continuously acquired collection of space-based, moderate-resolution land remote sensing data, has now surpassed 7 million scenes since Landsat 1 first began collecting data in July 1972.

Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, Erupted 26 Years AgoMount Pinatubo had likely been dormant for hundreds of years.

Monitoring Deforestation in the AmazonLarge areas within the Amazon rain forest have undergone large-scale deforestation over the past few decades, and Landsat has helped record this widespread land change.

Landsat 8 Scenes Top 1 MillionHow many pictures have you taken with your smartphone? Too many to count? However many it is, Landsat 8 probably has you beat.

Okefenokee Fire Continues to BurnA wildfire ignited by lightning in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on April 6, 2017, is persisting into May.

“We cannot do this project if the Landsat program doesn’t deliver this open data to the scientific community… We are benefiting from these long-term investments now.”

Lilian Pintea,VP of conservation science, Jane Goodall Institute

“From a valuation standpoint, Landsat is an extremely valuable public good just in its direct use—let alone the economic value of all the indirect uses built on the direct data.”

John Loomis,an economist at Colorado State University, Landsat Benefited U.S. Economy by $1.8 Billion in 2011, Aug 30, 2015

“The Landsat archive holds great potential for studying the processes behind the Greenland Ice Sheet’s response to our changing climate over multi-decadal time scales. It is essential that this record be exploited over other areas of the Greenland Ice Sheet.”

"We are now beginning to see that the combination of high performance computing, data storage facilities, data preparation techniques, and advanced systems can materially accelerate the value of Landsat data."

Dr. Suzette Kimball, acting Director of the USGS,A New Era of Space Collaboration between Australia and U.S., Jun 18, 2015

“...the time is now right and urgent to apply space technology towards the solution of many pressing natural resources problems being compounded by population and industrial growth.”

Stewart L. Udall,Secretary of the Interior (1966)

“The economic value of just one year of Landsat data far exceeds the multi-year total cost of building, launching, and managing Landsat satellites and sensors.”

Landsat Seen as Stunning Return on Public Investment, Jan 14, 2015,USGS press release

About

Landsat represents the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based moderate-resolution land remote sensing data. Four decades of imagery provides a unique resource for those who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response and disaster relief.

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Landsat Updates

The Landsat Update is an informal communication tool, prepared periodically and distributed electronically to USGS Landsat partners, to provide information about Landsat activities and related topics of interest.